Brace yourself Bat-fans. Remember that tease at the end of
"The Dark Knight Rises" that positioned
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's John "Robin" Blake as Bruce Wayne's superhero successor? It may have been more than a tease.

Hitfix is reporting that "Joseph Gordon-Levitt absolutely will be appearing in
'Justice League' as the new Batman."

Now, calm down and take a deep breath, because we won't be seeing any "Justice League" movie until 2015 at the earliest, there is no director attached, no official casting has been announced by Warner Bros., there's not even a finished script... yada, yada, yada.

But Hitfix's Drew McWeeny, who reported the news, is a reliable and dedicated movie and comic book fan, and since this isn't April Fool's Day, we'll take him at his word.

For the comics illiterate the Justice League is essentially DC Comics' version of
"The Avengers" -- a superhero collective made up of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash and Aquaman. Whether or not all of those characters will appear in a "Justice League" movie is another question yet to be officially answered, but director
Zack Snyderhinted to the New York Post that his upcoming Superman reboot
"Man of Steel" will lay groundwork for "Justice League."

And that leads Hitfix to speculate that if Gordon-Levitt is locked in as Batman, he may make a cameo appearance in "Man of Steel" to tease whatever's next (a la
Robert Downey Jr.'s appearance as Tony Stark at the end of "The Incredible Hulk"). Additionally, Hitfix says there's a strong possibility that "one other actor from the Nolan films" will also be involved in Gordon-Levitt's Batman debut. Could it be
Gary Oldman?
Michael Caine?
Anne Hathaway?